1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a continuous length of fabric from which garments are directly obtained.
2. Description of Related Art
A process for obtaining a garment which has been, for a long time, practiced is such that a fabric, such as woven or knitted fabric is subjected to a cutting process using respective pattern papers, by which parts of garment, such as a front body, a back body and a collar are obtained, and, then, a sewing is executed, by which these parts are connected with each other, thereby obtaining a garment.
In order to obtain an increased production efficiency, a computerized system has recently developed as far as the cutting is concerned, in which system a data base is provided for storing pattern papers of various sizes, a selection of a pattern matched to a size measurement is, then, done from the stored pattern, thereafter, the selected pattern paper is corrected in accordance with the result of the measurement, and, finally the cutting of the fabric along the corrected pattern is done by using a cutting equipment such as a laser cutter, thereby obtaining separated parts of the garment, such as a front and back bodies and a collar.
As far as a sewing process is concerned, an automation is, however, very difficult. Therefore, the sewing is still now basically done under a manually operated basis, which construct a bottleneck not only from a view point of an increase in a production efficiency but also from the view point of a decrease in a production cost. In other words, the existence of a sewing process has been a great problem in processes for producing a garment. Thus, there has been a long felt demand in a production of a garment for eliminating or at least reducing the above problem in the sewing process.
Furthermore, apart from the matter of the above mentioned problem related to the sewing process, there are also drawback related to a conventional way of a production of ready-made garments. Namely, ready-made garments are usually introduced into a market with some size variations. However, it is quite usual that there is a great limit in a number of size variations of ready-made garments, which makes it difficult that a garment is best matched to a particular user, since it is usual that the size of the particular user may frequently delicately different from the standard size and it is quite natural that a user has a particular preference. In view of this, it is quite usual that a selection of a ready-made garment is done at some degree of compromise, i.e., the selected garment is insufficient from the view point of the best fit, which makes the user to feel a certain kind of dissatisfaction.
In view of the above, the present invention aims to provide a garment without substantial necessity of sewing. The present invention also aims to make a garment to be a best fitted condition to a particular user regardless of a delicate difference of a size of the particular user from an available standard size.
According to the present invention, a continuous length of fabric for cutting therefrom a garment is provided, comprising a plurality of layers, at least one of which is a first layer as one side of a garment, while the remaining at least one of said layers is a second layer as the other side of a garment, the first and second layers being, basically, separated from each other, and connecting parts which integrally connect first and second layers with each other along an outer profile of a garment, which is unfinished or semi-finished except at locations where openings for passage of portions of a wearer are to be formed, said connecting parts along the outlines of the unfinished or semi-finished garments being, as repeated patterns, distributed at least along the length of the fabric.
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, said fabric is warp knitted fabric knitted by a warp knitting machine having at least two ground guide bars and at least two jacquard guide bars, wherein said first and second layers are knitted by using said respective ground guide bars, and wherein the connected parts are constructed by stitching the first and second layer by using the jacquard guide bars.
According to the second embodiment of the present invention, said fabric is a circular knitted fabric knitted by a circular knitting machine having dial needles and cylinder needles, wherein said first layer is knitted by solely using the dial needles, while said second layer is knitted by solely using the cylinder needles, and wherein the connected parts are constructed by a stitching using both of the dial needles and the cylinder needles.
According to the third embodiment of the present invention, said fabric is a woven multi layer fabric woven by a weaving machine provided with a jacquard mechanism, wherein at least one layer of the woven fabric constructs the first layer, while at least one remaining layer constructs the second layer, and wherein the connected parts are constructed by stitching the first and second layers with each other.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, a continuous length of fabric for cutting therefrom a fabric is provided, comprising a plurality of layers, at least one of which is a first layer as one side of a garment, while the remaining at least one of said layers is a second layer as the other side of a garment, the first and second layers being, basically, separated from each other, and connecting parts which integrally connect first and second layers with each other along an outer profile of a garment, which is adjustable at locations where openings for passage of portions of a wearer are to be formed, said connecting parts along the outlines of the unfinished or semi-finished garments being, as repeated patterns, distributed at least along the length of the fabric.
According to further aspect of the present invention, a method for producing a garment is provided, comprising the steps of:
forming a fabric having a plurality of layers, at least one of which becomes a first layer as one side of the garment, while the remaining at least one of said layers becomes a second layer as the other side of the garment, the first and second layers being, basically, separated from each other;
stitching integrally first and second layers with each other along an outline of a garment, which is unfinished or semi-finished except at locations where openings for passage of portions of a wearer are to be formed, and;
cutting the fabric along the outer profile while the stitched parts are at least partially left, thereby separating the garment from the fabric, while the cutting is such that the separated garment is matched to a wearer.
According to still further aspect of the present invention, an unfinished or semi-finished garment is provided, which is to be separated from a woven or knitted fabric and has a first layer and second layer and connecting parts as woven or knitted portions along an outline of the garment in such a manner that the first and second layers are integrated along the outline of the garment, the garment being unfinished or semi-finished at regions of the garment where openings for passage of portions of a wearer such as neck hole are to be formed.